Surrounded By Stars
by mezopotamio
Summary: Hermione's midnight stargazing activity was interrupted by an unexpected guest. Read and review.


Surrounded By Stars  
  
By : *minerva*   
  
AN : Thanks for everyone who reviewed my first story, One Last Glance. You encourage me to write another one. Hope you like this one, and please review! =)  
  
Disclaimer : general disclaimers applied.  
  
  
  
Careful enough not to wake her parents, Hermione sneaked out of the cottage with a red and white checkered blanket and her wand hidden inside her muggle coat. She was sneaking out at midnight, after all, she should be cautious and took care of her own safety. You never knew what kind of danger is waiting for you out there. That was something Hermione learnt in her seven years of experience in the wizarding world.   
  
Once she was out of the cottage, Hermione walked with light steps to the beach just 5 minutes walk from her cottage. When she got there, she took of her rattan sandals and walked barefoot, letting her small feet sank into the soft dry sand. She found just the right spot, where she let the cool remaining of the sea wave tickle her feet, but at the same time, let her dry from ankle to top. Hermione spread her blanket on the sand, and laid herself down.  
  
Now, it's time for the stars, she thought. She let her eyes traveled across the velvet dark night sky, where thousands of stars lay. The sky seemed to have every kind of stars, from the tiny to the huge ones, from the brightest to the dim ones, spread in every part of it. The sight was breath taking. The most beautiful sight Hermione had ever seen, and that was why she was here in the first place.  
  
Her parents had given her a vacation with the destination of her choice as a gift to honor their daughter who passed her N.E.W.Ts with unbelievably perfect scores. She had chosen this beach because she knew that this is where the most beautiful and clear Polaris lay in England. Stargazing had always been her favorite activity, which she kept silent from her parents who certainly wouldn't approve her sneaking out at night.  
  
The Venus is extremely bright tonight; perhaps the Leo will show up tomorrow, she thought. I wonder what my sign says, too bad it didn't show up tonight. Then she let out a giggle. Who would have thought Hermione Granger would be interested in Astrology! Trelawney would be surprised to death if she found out about this. Suddenly she stopped laughing. Thinking about Trelawney reminds her of Hogwarts, which reminds her of her two best friends, which reminds her to the day of her graduation.  
  
Ron Weasley, one of her two best friends, had asked her, no, dragged her, to be exact, to come to the lake before the graduation ceremony. He insisted that they need a 'private talk'.  
  
"What is it Ron? You better hurry, 'cause the ceremony will be started in 15 minutes, and we wouldn't want to be late for that!" she said, a little bit anxious.  
  
"I promise I'll be brief," Ron said. "I just couldn't imagine graduating without telling you this."  
  
Hermione looked at him questioningly. Ron looked serious, very serious. He never looked that serious before, not even when he took his N.E.W.Ts.  
  
Ron took a deep breath.   
  
"Hermione, I love you."  
  
Hermione felt her jaw dropped. Then she quickly shut her open mouth, which mustn't have been a pretty sight. Suddenly she smiled and punched Ron playfully in the arm. "You're kidding, right?"  
  
Ron shook his head firmly. "I'm serious, Herm. I love you."  
  
Once again, Hermione's jaw dropped against her will. She tried to shut her mouth, but as Ron continued his words, she felt her jaw dropped inevitably.  
  
"I've kept this for so long, I could hardly take it anymore. Maybe you realized how weird I acted when you were seeing Krum, that was when I started to realize how much I like you. The feeling has been growing, but I didn't want to tell you, for the sake of our friendship. But.. Like I've said before, I couldn't imagine graduating without telling you this."  
  
Hermione's eyes were fixed to Ron's. She couldn't believe this. But she knew perfectly well how serious Ron was.   
  
"Ron," she started, a little bit shaky from surprise. "I.. I'm flattered, I really am. And I really appreciate your courage by telling me this. But... I'm sorry Ron. I love you too, but not the way you do. I love you as a friend, a brother. I'm sorry, Ron."  
  
Ron's expectant shining eyes slowly dimmed. The expectation drawn in his face changed into disappointment. Hermione's heart ached seeing him like that, but she couldn't lie.   
  
Ron forced a smile. "Well... that wasn't what I expected, and I was hurt," he admitted. "But that wasn't your fault. I'll get over this, Hermione, and we'll soon enough be best friends once again. In the mean time, can you pretend this never happened?"  
  
Hermione nodded, and Ron smiled once again. This time, it was genuine. Hermione threw her arms around Ron, who held her tight in response.   
  
"Best friends?" he whispered.   
  
"Forever," she replied firmly.   
  
Hermione sighed as she recalled the memory. She hadn't spoken with Ron for almost a week, knowing that he needed some time to heal. But she missed him, and she missed the other person in their threesome friendship even more. Harry.  
  
She liked Harry. She always has. And now, she loves Harry. She just didn't want to admit it.   
  
"Star-gazing again, Hermione?"  
  
Hermione automatically reached her wand as a response. But then, she recognized the voice. She sat and turned around. "Harry!"  
  
Harry stood there, a few steps away, smiling, his ebony hair looked messier than ever. "Hi, Hermi."  
  
"How did you get here?" Hermione said, still surprised.  
  
Harry lifted his broomstick. Ah, so that's why his hair was a complete mess.  
  
"And how did you find out I was here? I mean, I haven't received any owl post since our graduation!"  
  
"I don't need an owl to find you, Hermione," Harry said. Hermione shivered as she heard those words. Harry stepped closer and sat on the blanket next to her.  
  
"You said you were going on a vacation, and where else would you rather be but here?" Harry threw his hands at the sky. "The stars in this place are enough reason for me to know where you are."  
  
Hermione raised an eyebrow. "You know?'  
  
Harry let out a hearty laugh. "Come on, Hermi. How may times have I found you sneaking out in the dead of the night just to star-gaze at the Astronomy Tower?"  
  
Hermione joined his laugh. "What brought you here, Harry?"  
  
Harry stopped laughing. "I just came to give you a graduation present," he said slowly. "The present took me a year in the making, and I just finished it a few hours ago. I couldn't wait to give it to you."  
  
"A graduation present?" Hermione felt the tingly feeling of curiosity rose inside her.  
  
Harry reached inside his cloak and pulled out something Hermione could barely recognize. "A ball?" she asked hesitantly.  
  
"Not just a ball," Harry said, handing it to Hermione. "Look."  
  
Hermione let out a gasp as the ball touched her hand. It turned out to be a crystal ball, a dark mist filled the hollow space inside of it. And between the mist, were hundreds of stars, floating around, forming magnificent shapes, glittering, shining, shimmering, and twinkling softly, contrast to the darkness.   
  
"Oh Harry, it's beautiful!"  
  
"Look closer," Harry told her.  
  
Hermione looked closer and found a tiny figure floating in the middle of the ball, twirling, and laughing with glee. The figure has a bushy chesnut hair. "Me?"  
  
Harry nodded. "I know how much you like, and wanted, to be surrounded by stars."  
  
Hermione felt a lump in her throat. "Thanks Harry, this is the most beautiful thing I ever own. You must have worked hard to make this."  
  
Harry smiled sheepishly. "Actually, I needed some help and advise from Parvati."  
  
Hermione laughed. Parvati was their astrology-crazy friend.   
  
"And also from Ron," Harry continued. "Actually, he's another reason why I came here."  
  
Hermione stopped laughing and stared into his eyes. "What? Did he ask you to come here?"  
  
"No," Harry shook his head. "He told me what happened on our graduation day."  
  
"So that's why you're here? To ask me to love him back?" Hermione snapped.  
  
"No!" Harry practically shouted. "Listen to me first."  
  
Hermione stared more intensely into his emerald eyes. "Go on."  
  
"He told me what happened," Harry continued, "and he told me that if he was courageous enough, I should have been courageous enough. After all, I am the boy who lived." Harry laughed. Hermione just stared at him questioningly.  
  
"Ron and I... we both fell for you, Hermi. I knew he fell for you first. That's why I held back all my feelings for you. But he also knew that I have feelings for you. I didn't know that, until he told me yesterday. He said that after he got turned down, I don't have any reason not to try and win your heart. He wished me the best. So Hermi, here I am."  
  
Hermione froze in her place. Time seemed to stop for her. Harry waved his hand in front of her face. "Hermi? Are you all right? You look as though you've been stupefied."  
  
Hermione jerked back to reality. "Harry? Am I hearing things? Did you just tell me that you like me?"  
  
"No."  
  
Hermione's mountain-high rising happiness sank ocean-deep. "Oh," was all she managed to say. She took her eyes away from Harry's and looked at her enchanted ball.  
  
"I was saying that I love you."  
  
Hermione lifted her head, a look of pure shock in her face. But as Harry's finger caressed her cheek, she knew she wasn't dreaming.   
  
"Harry, I love you too."  
  
The look on Harry's face matched the one she had on her own. The look of pure happiness. The look of a newly found love.   
  
Harry leaned forward, and his lips touched Hermione's softly. As they kissed under the stars, Hermione felt like she was really in the enchanted ball, floating around, laughing gleefully surrounded by stars.  
  
  
  
  



End file.
